


Ralehaut & Lore, Dragonborn Boyfriends

by SnugAsABugbear



Series: Ralehaut Valaeros [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, Waterdeep
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 19:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30127524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnugAsABugbear/pseuds/SnugAsABugbear
Summary: Ralehaut & Lorelax, two dragonborn boyfriends in Waterdeep. The story of their relationship told non-chronologically. Mostly just a writing exercise for myself but hopefully it's something you'll like too.
Relationships: Ralehaut/Lorelax
Series: Ralehaut Valaeros [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2217276





	Ralehaut & Lore, Dragonborn Boyfriends

_Artwork by[NikoDavisArtwork](https://themoderntake.tumblr.com/post/636544490480517120/nikodavisartwork-commission-for-themoderntake)_

* * *

After five minutes of exasperated sighs and a tapping that was steadily growing in intensity, Lore finally decided it would be cruel not to speak up.

“You’re overthinking it.”

Ralehaut stopped drumming the side of his head with his index finger long enough to send an indignant glare at his boyfriend before returning his attention to the board.

“You’re trying to trick me into making a rash decision,” he said with unfounded certainty.

“I’m trying to keep this game moving,” Lore huffed, pressing his cheek to his hand and leaning on the table. “Asking if you wanted to play a match is not an action that should have decided the rest of my afternoon.” It was quiet again, save for the renewed tapping. “That makes your brain work faster, does it?”

“Stop distracting me.”

“Is it tapping harder or faster that helps more?”

“You’re not funny, you know.”

“Because if I helped, together we could have twenty fingers all tapping your head. That just might be enough for your next turn to happen during this millenia.”

“There!” Ralehaut planted one of the horse-headed pieces down hard enough to shake the board, leaving the rest of the pieces wobbling. He slouched back, his arms crossed almost as tightly as the scowl twisting its way across his mouth.

Lorelax’s brow furrowed as he sat up, his jaw beginning to hang open slightly. The glowering pose Ralehaut had sulked into, the same one that he had been taking on after many of his previous turns now, began to slowly disappear as realization dawned on him. He had done it. He made a move that Lore hadn’t thought of, that Lore hadn’t even considered during all of his smug teasing, one that would finally turn the tide of this battle to his side.

“That piece doesn’t move like that.”

One wouldn’t think a game of chess would invoke the noise that escaped Ralehaut’s mouth as he threw his head back and sagged into the chair. Lore waited for a few moments before bringing up the question that needed to be asked.

“Do you want to move it back, or should...”

Ralehaut dragged himself forward and dejectedly slid the small wooden horse head back to its previous position. An unsuccessful attempt was made by Lore to hide a pitying smile behind his hand.

“So, I may be reading the situation completely wrong but something is telling me that you’re not finding this very enjoyable.”

“I can’t imagine what,” Ralehaut said in a muffled grumble, his chin now resting on the table. “Showing my boyfriend how much of an idiot I am is actually the perfect thing to get me going. Watch out, my pants might fly off any second now.”

“Har har, mister,” Lore poked at his nose. They’d had the talk before about how Lore felt when Ralehaut self-deprecated. He began to stand. “C’mon, we don’t have to keep at this—”

“No, no. I’m sorry,” Ralehaut pulled himself off the table. “I know you really like this game. Let me give it another shot.” Lore hesitated for a moment then gave him an appreciative smile and sat back down.

“Here, we can start over.” He began moving all of the pieces back into place, faster than Ralehaut could even keep track of. “You’re first.” Ralehaut leaned in, focusing on his army lined up before him.

 _Don’t overthink it_ , he thought. The first move wasn’t going to be that important in the grand scheme of things. He succinctly moved one of the small pieces, a pawn, forward one square. Lore breathed in sharply.

“What?”

“It’s…” He bit his tongue, obviously trying to hold something back.

“Look, it’s fine if you give me advice. I’m not going to learn better any other way.” 

“It’s just that,” Lore sighed, worrying he would come across as overbearing, “that’s kind of a dangerous way to start out. You’re opening yourself up to potentially lose very quickly.”

“How many moves would it take you to beat me from here?”

“Two.”

“Fuck.” Ralehaut rubbed his face in his hands and shook his head. “I’m sorry, it’s not clicking. It just feels so restrictive.” He kept his eyes on the floor, not wanting to see how he was obviously disappointing Lore. The quick response took him by surprise.

“Try not to think of it like you’re being confined by the pieces. What makes them special isn’t what they can’t do, it’s the things they can. The pawns can be used to block and set traps, the bishops and rooks can cross the entire board, knights move in ways hard to predict. They’re all on one big team, and it’s knowing and using each one’s strength that lets them work together to figure out how to win.” Lore finished, waiting for Ralehaut to say something back. Just as he was beginning to worry that he may have touched a nerve Ral looked up at him, halfway between a grin and a grimace.

“Please tell me you didn’t just make that up right here on the spot. Please, come on, even you couldn’t just pull that cheese out of nowhere.”

“Mordenkainen’s Modern Dragonchess Strategies, jackass,” Lore kicked at Ral under the table as both laughed. “Second edition. I wore that thing down so much when I was a kid that I sometimes had to replace torn pages from memory.”

“Ugh, what a dork,” Ral said exaggeratedly rolling his eyes. “I don’t know what kind of person would ever go out with such a complete uptown know-it-all like you.”

“Hmm, probably not some Southern Ward vagrant too unsophisticated to have ever played an honest game of even regular chess.”

“Oh! ‘Southern Ward vagrant’ is new; I might just need to make you pay for that later.”

“Later?”

“Well obviously I’m going to beat you at this first,” Ral teased, pulling himself back to the board. “Maybe it’s about time you saw just how ‘unsophisticated’ I can be.” Lore couldn’t help as his smile grew wider.

“Alright then, but how about since I’m so nice I let you try again from the beginning.”

“Fine,” Ralehaut sighed as he put his piece back into place. “Only one more time.”

“Sure,” Lore said, then more quietly, “as many times as you need.”

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said this will for the most part just be a writing exercise, but I will try to keep it ongoing and maybe see how it grows. I'll also be posting these to my |[Tumblr](https://themoderntake.tumblr.com/post/645152610779856896/ralehaut-lore-dragonborn-boyfriends-1-reset) where there is some more art I've commissioned of these characters!


End file.
